For the Love of Community Engagement.
Insights from a personal expedition to inspire better public participation.
By Becky Hirst.
With a Foreword by Dr. Wendy Sarkissian LFPIA.
Ranked #1 Amazon Best Seller
Civics & Citizenship, April 2021
Available to order at all good online and bricks & mortar bookstores - worldwide!
This book has been released for purchase around the world. Here are some quick links for places where it’s available to order…
Paperback, hardcover & e-Book
Amazon (Australia)
Blackwells (UK)
Booktopia (Australia)
e-Book from Booktopia (Australia)
Barnes & Noble (United States)
Page After Page - Independent (NC, United States)
Amazon (United States)
Amazon (Canada)
Kindle edition from Amazon (Japan)
Kindle edition from Amazon (Italy)
Fishpond (New Zealand)
Audiobook
Google Play
Scribd
Booktopia
Rakuten Kobo
Audiobooks.com
Note: If a store says the paperback is out of stock, it isn’t… it’s print on demand so there’s no such thing as out of stock... they are just playing games!
PLEASE SHOP AROUND FOR THE BEST PRICES AND DELIVERY TIMES!
“For the Love of Community Engagement is a beacon of inspiration. It provides the benchmark for where we should be heading as a sector.”
— Paul Kooperman, Community Engagement Specialist
Enjoyed the book?
Check out the podcast!
My Dream. My Community Engagement Dream.
*SPOILER ALERT* I delivered this reading at the recent online launch of my book, For the Love of Community Engagement. The excerpt is from Chapter 20, titled "Go Back to the Future" and is the very last section of the book (so look away now if you don't want to know how the book ends!). I chose those share this because it's one of my favourite sections as it's such a clear call to action and so poignant. Please share this with everyone who needs to see it!
About the book
Becky Hirst is a skilled community engagement practitioner who is willing to tell it how it is. And she has grave concerns for the future of public participation.
To have a thriving society, we need people and communities who are actively involved in civic life. For politicians, public servants, corporations, or planners to engage with communities in any positive way, they need to learn a new way of doing things.
A wealth of sophisticated public consultation slogans, methods and frameworks are frequently seen. But we are close to breaking point. Some fundamental things are missing. And, right now, we need to focus our energies on them. As a matter of urgency.
Whilst this book shines a clear light of day on hard truths we can’t escape, the stories within it are about love, passion, enthusiasm and a heartfelt commitment to community empowerment and community building.
Becky’s expedition through her career to date is authentically presented as 20 easy-to-follow key insights, combined with 100 conversation starters to provide the reader with calls to both reflect and act.
For the Love of Community Engagement seeks to inspire better public participation – and that it will!
Watch the book launch.
On 2 June 2021, a live Q&A Meet the Author webinar was held to officially launch For the Love of Community Engagement. MC’d by Amy Hubbard (Capire Consulting & IAP2 Australasia) with special guest Dr Wendy Sarkissian, a lot was discussed in a short space of time!
Want to learn from the author?
Becky runs regular Community Engagement BOOTCAMPS through her training organisation, Academy Communitas. Enrol for the next 6-week virtual group learning experience to turbo charge your community engagement knowledge and practice!
“This book is a must read! It challenges the way we’ve been engaging with communities and champions the cause for a fresh think as we look to the future!”
— Stephen Yarwood, Urban Futurist & Former Lord Mayor of Adelaide
Book details
Title: For the Love of Community Engagement
Subtitle: Insights from a personal expedition to inspire better public participation
Author: Becky Hirst
eBook ISBN: 9781649696137
Publisher : Tablo Publishing (19 April 2021)
Language : English
File size : 24929 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
Print length : 327 pages
Paperback ISBN-13: 9781649696120
Publisher : Tablo Pty Ltd (19 April 2021)
Language : English
Paperback length : 268 pages
ISBN-10 : 1649696124
Dimensions : 15.19 x 1.55 x 22.91 cm
Hardcover ISBN-13: 9781649696113
Publisher : Tablo Pty Ltd (19 April 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover length : 268 pages
ISBN-10 : 1649696116
Dimensions : 15.19 x 1.91 x 22.91 cm
Audiobook ISBN 9781667032085
Publish date: 21 September 2021
Duration: 7h 43m 9s
Language: English
Accompanying PDF available
Narrator: Linda Quinn
Blogger, journalist, podcaster? Download the Media Pack here (1.6MB) and then book an interview time with the author!
“I hope that students studying community engagement will be encouraged by the contents of this book to think big, understanding that there’s way more to this work than learning the kind of consultation processes currently taught in universities. I hope that people already working in community engagement (such as consultants, public servants, in the private sector, or somewhere else) will use my book to reflect on their practice. And that this book will encourage them to think outside their safe and familiar comfort zones. I hope that people already deeply immersed in communities will discover the potential for making an even bigger difference by using their connections with community to inform decision-making at the highest level. I hope that current or aspiring politicians will read my book and reconsider their roles as leaders within our communities. That they will appreciate the importance of genuine listening, authenticity, and empathy, far beyond the once-an-election-cycle presence in communities that many currently have. “
- Becky Hirst, For the Love of Community Engagement
About the Author
Becky Hirst is a multi-award-winning community engagement specialist, author, public speaker, mentor, and trainer. She lives in the beautiful McLaren Vale region, 45-minutes south of Adelaide in South Australia (Australia), with her partner Dan and two young daughters.
Born and bred in Gloucester (UK), Becky began her community-focused career in 1999 in the early Blair years of UK politics – a time when social inclusion and community involvement were high on the agenda.
After migrating to Australia in 2007, and since founding her consultancy practice in 2009, Becky has worked with over 100 government agencies and local Councils, helping them to successfully involve people, groups and communities in problem solving and decision-making processes. She estimates that this work has included connecting with over 50,000 people in conversations about things that matter!
Becky is proud to have been one of the founders of Engage 2 Act and a co-instigator of Global Community Engagement Day, which is now celebrated internationally every year on 28 January.
Becky is well known and respected for her innovative and creative approach to community engagement and has a genuine desire to build stronger communities through getting the right people involved in the right conversations.
What others are saying…
Listen to Understand (Australia)
“There is much to like about this book including the take-away messages and thought-provoking stories that will only make me a better engagement professional. Becky Hirst has once again shown us why she is a leading engagement practitioner and a respected and sought-after consultant in South Australia and beyond.”
Thanks Dan Popping from Bang the Table for the interview and book review!
The UK Consult
In this episode, ardent community engagement practitioner and young Turk, Becky Hirst and Jonno share tales of their love (and hate (kind of)) for community engagement. In possibly the most detailed book review ever, during this recording, Jonno turned the pages of Becky’s book, For The Love of Community Engagement (live in the studio) and the result is an epic session of shared stories and a dose of consultation catharsis.
Listen here.
Beyond Consultation
(New Zealand)
“Do yourself a favour and buy a copy of this book. Even better, buy one for your teammates too. For your CEO. For your mayor. For anybody who cares about the future of our society and the power of communities. And I'm not just saying that because she's a guest on our podcast and I feel obliged to support her. I'm saying that because I sped through the book like it was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The secret was Becky's storytelling.”
Thanks Paul McGregor in New Zealand for having me as a guest on Episode 20 of your Beyond Consultation podcast!
Community engagement finds a new Champion (UK)
“Never underestimate the power of direct experience when compared with the sterile, safe, diplomatically-worded case studies that predominate in the world of community engagement. Here is an eyewitness who is not scared to admit to faults and failures. Her passion shines through and her infectious enthusiasm has clearly motivated others in both hemispheres..”
Thanks Rhion Jones, founding Director of the Consultation Institute (UK), as well as co-author of “The Art of Consultation” (2009) and “The Politics of Consultation” (2018), for the book review.
Music to read by.
Anyone who knows Becky well, knows that she has a playlist for every occasion. And publishing For the Love of Community Engagement is no exception! Listen to Becky’s curated book playlist, featuring a handful of fun songs that are either mentioned in the book or inspired by sections of the book.
Share your insights from this book using #fortheloveofcommunityengagement
